Four Days on a Train: On to Gaoling
by DupreeRose
Summary: A sequel to my story, Four Days on a Train. Katara goes back to Gaoling with Aang and learns more about his life along the way. Written for Kataang Week 2015. (the rating may change as the story goes along)
1. Sleep Talking

It's Kataang week 2015 y'all! Here's my entry. Each chapter title is that day's prompt.

* * *

 **Sleep Talking**

A week earlier if someone would have told Katara that she would meet a man on the train, she would have scoffed. If they told her they would have kissed, she would of shook her head. If they'd told her that they would sleep together, she would have laughed in their face. And if they would have told her that she would be traveling back to Gaoling with him, she would have thought they were insane.

But she was there, back on a train, headed back to Gaoling, with Aang.

Aang and Katara had spent the day before seeing the sights in Ba Sing Se; he had accompanied her to the best shops in the Upper Ring so she could buy some new things for her wardrobe and gifts for her brother and father, she'd gone with him to a zoo in the lower ring where the head zoo keeper was a friend of his, and everywhere in between that they could see in the time they had. It was nearly morning when they made it back to the hotel where they helped each other pack for the next day's journey.

They boarded the train around dusk, this time sharing a sleeper from the start. Once they got settled they ate dinner, then went back to their room where they promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Katara woke up to the sound of Aang's voice. At first she thought he was awake and on his phone, but then she realized he was asleep. She propped herself op on her elbows and looked at him.

"That's not funny Gyatso. You shouldn't joke like that." he mumbled, tossing his head to the side, then he shook it "No. You can't do that. I don't know how I'm going to do this." he turned onto his side and clutched the cover closer to his chest "Gyatso…" he whined with a bit of a whimper.

Katara sat up and shook his arm gently "Aang," she said softly "Aang. Wake up."

He shot up with a sharp gasp and she jumped back a little. Aang looked around confused, fighting to catch his breath. When his eyes landed on Katara he remembered where he was "Katara," he sighed with a bit of relief "I musta' been dreaming." he rubbed his head "I'm sorry I woke you."

She noticed the tears threatening to fall from his eyes "You're crying." she reached out an wiped the moisture away with her thumb "You were calling out to your dad."

Aang's face dropped "Oh. I did?"

"Yeah. You were talking like there was something wrong." he held his head down and turned it away from her. Katara put a hand on his shoulder "There is something wrong, isn't there?" he wouldn't answer her. She realized she's only seen him make one phone call the entire time they were together, and that was to Toph. "You want to call him in the morning. It may make you feel better."

"I can't call him." Aang said sadly.

"Why not?" he didn't answer again "Did you guys have an argument?" he laid on his side and pulled the thin sheet closer to his neck, staring at the wall. "I get it. You don't want to talk to me about it." Katara laid on her back and looked at the ceiling "But if you do, I'm here."

* * *

When Katara woke up again the sun was just starting to come up and Aang was not there. She tapped on the door to the little bathroom, and when he didn't answer, she opened the door. He wasn't there either.

The water bender pulled on some shorts and a pair of flip-flops before she made her way through the train. When she found Aang he was sitting slouched in one of the armchairs in the parlor car with his head slumped to the side as he watched the landscape go by.

Katara sat across from him with her elbows on her knees "Are you okay?

"Yeah." Aang he said faintly. He glanced down at the trim around the window "Gyatso died."

She sat up in shock "I'm so sorry. When did it happen."

He sighed deeply "A little over a week ago."

"A little over a week ago," she twisted her head trying to meet his eyes "Why didn't you call the office? We could of rescheduled the meeting."

"He told me not to. He said it was too important. That if I didn't go when I was scheduled I would miss out on something important."

"The contract would have been there. We would have understood."

Aang finally looked at her, his eyes red, and smiled a little "I don't think that's what he meant. He insisted on it like he knew something one in a million was going to happen."

Katara smiled back and put a hand on his knee "Why didn't you tell me when you talked about him at dinner?"

"I didn't want to think about it. We had his service the day before I left. I figured that since I was away I could just act like he was at home waiting for me to come back with good news." he held his head down again "It worked for a little while."

Katara looked at him. Sweet, fun-loving Aang was miserable and she was at a loss about how to deal with it. There was only one thing she knew to do. She slid out of her seat, shuffled over to him on her knees and gave him a hug.


	2. Change&The Avatar State

_Days two and three are togther_

* * *

 **Change / The Avatar State**

He jumped at the contact. Katara wondered if Aang hadn't noticed her coming toward him. She slid her hands around his back, tightening her grip. She felt his body shutter as he exhaled before he wrapped his arms around her and leaned down, burying his face in

the crook of her neck.

* * *

They held hands as they walked back to their room in silence. This was not the Aang she had gotten used to. Even when he was upset with her, she could tell that a certain joy was just under the surface. He was so different now. He looked heavy, tired, utterly miserable.

Katara stood at the door and watched as he laid down "I'll go get us some breakfast. You want anything in particular?"

"I'm not hungry." he answered quietly.

"Oh. Okay." she took the handle into her hand and slid the door closed.

She went to the dining car and asked for breakfast to go, sitting at the booth until the waiter brought the two trays to her. She smiled and thanked him, then headed back to the room, hopeful that Aang would eat once he found out what she had.

"Guess what was on the menu today." she said trying to sound happy as she stepped in and closed the door behind her "Egg custard." he was still curled up on the bed. He didn't move "I remembered you said you liked it."

"Yeah. Thank you." he said in a monotone "I'll eat it later."

She sat the plate up on the top bunk and then sat on the edge of the bed and started picking at her own breakfast.

* * *

Aang had been very quiet for the bulk of that day, but by dinner he was in a slightly better mood. They sat in the booth and ate in near silence. It was only when desert came that he said something.

"I have to master it." he mumbled to himself.

Katara cocked her head a bit "Master what?"

"The Avatar State." he answered, looking down and poking around in his apple pie "My spiritual master said that in order to master it I had to let go of earthly attachment, but I couldn't do it. Gyatso was getting worse." he shook his head "I-I just couldn't."

She reached out and placed her hand on top of his "Is there something I can do to help?"

"No." he muttered "I have to do this alone." he pushed a piece of apple "That long layover is tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah." Katara answered, watching him play with his food "In this town called Tu Zin."

* * *

It was early when the train stopped at the little station. Katara offered to go with Aang, just to keep him company. At first the Avatar started to tell the water bender no, but he decided that it wouldn't hurt to have someone there to keep an eye on him.

Aang stood on the edge of the station platform and looked out at the woods. This had been a long time coming. This meant that he'd be a fully realized Avatar and that he was at the world's beck and call. Things were peaceful, but he wasn't looking forward to all the stuffy world meetings he would now be privy to. He took a nervous breath and Katara slid her hand into his.

He looked at her. Aang was happy that she was there to support him. He wouldn't have blamed her if she had turned and walked away because of the way he'd been acting, but she was such a caring person that she stayed right beside him.

Aang smiled at Katara and squeezed her hand a little "You ready?"

She smiled back at him and nodded her head "Ready."

* * *

Katara sat on a log and watched Aang. He sat with his legs folded under him and his fist pressed together in a patch of grass across from where Katara sat. She was fascinated with the glow coming from his tattoos. Aang hadn't moved in a little over an hour, not even a facial expression change. When the glow finally faded he opened his eyes.

Aang took a deep breath and looked at Katara "It's done."

She smiled at him "Good." but, because she knew so little about the avatar state she asked "So what does that mean?"

He stood up and just shrugged as if it were nothing "It just means I can control it now. No more slips."

Katara stood too "What is it for?"

"It makes me stronger, wiser. It's basically like all the other Avatars are standing with me, it's just all channeled through my body."

"That sounds amazing." she held her head down a bit and blushed , not wanting to be intrusive, but wanting to see it, under his full control, first hand "Can you show me?"

He smiled and nodded "Okay."

Aang took a few steps back and the glow returned. He raised himself up off of his feet and surrounded himself with the four elements. Aang rode the wind and flame leapt from his hands. Soil lifted from the ground and compressed into rock. Water came to him from some unseen source and danced around his body. After a few moments he released everything. His glow faded and his feet returned to the ground.

He smiled at her "How was it?"

She was in awe "Absolutely spell binding."

He laughed for the first time in a couple of days "Good." Aang walked up to Katara "Lets get back. We still have time to check out the town.


	3. Home

**Home**

The sun was setting when the train arrived. Not many people got off in Gaoling; Aang and Katara, a couple of men who looked to be about their age and an older woman. Katara stepped off of the train first, her carry on hanging from her shoulder and the garment bag holding Aang's suit laying over her arm. She walked out onto the platform and turned around to see Aang walking toward her with his duffle bag and her large suitcase, then her eye drifted to a large man in a suit and a small woman standing behind him. The woman turned to her and smile deviously, placing a finger to her lips, singling Katara to keep quiet.

Katara glanced at Aang then back to the woman. She opened her mouth to warn him, but the little woman with long black hair jumped out and punched him in the arm hard enough to knock him off balance.

"Gotcha Twinkletoes!" she said happily as Aang got himself upright again.

He laughed rubbed his arm "Yeah Toph you got me." he looked at the man in the suit "Hi, you must be the new guy Toph was talking about." he extended his hand.

The man bowed a bit "I am Mr. How. It is very nice to meet you Mr. Laghima."

Aang looked at Toph and she shrugged, her head down "Yeah. Chuckles is a little stiff." she patted his arm "We'll loosen him up sooner of later.

Aang walked over at Katara who had been watching the entire scene play out with a confused smile on her face. He smiled and put and arm around her "Toph Beifong, meet Katara Gulkana."

Toph turned her head toward Katara first and smiled hugely, then she turned her body and reached out a hand "How's it going?"

Katara shook her hand "It's nice to meet you. I was telling Aang on the train that all the kids in the program I worked at love your books."

They released the handshake and gave a dismissive wave "Eh. I like making up stories and it's kinda cool to have my own pocket money coming in." she turned to Aang "I like her voice. Is she hot?"

Katara's eyes stretched and she blushed a bit "Toph," Aang admonished "Don't embarrass her."

Toph sighed and leaned toward Mr. How "Hey Chuckles. Is she hot?"

"She is a nice looking young lady Miss Beifong."

Aang shook his head and Toph smiled "Well, lets get going. The folks will have a fit if we don't get back in time.

Mr. How took the bags Katara was holding and lead the way to the black limo sitting in the parking lot. As they turned to walk away Katara leaned over to Aang and whispered "Twinkletoes?"

Aang flushed "It's a long story."

.~.

Toph sat across from the couple in the car and smirked "So you two crazy kids met on the train up."

"Yes." Katara said, smiling toward Aang. "It was an amazing coincidence."

Toph raised and eyebrow "Sure was." she turned her head towards Aang a bit "Damn Twinkletoes. I know Dad said 'Give it your all, but I didn't think you were going to screw the boss."

Katara's mouth dropped open. She was about to lay into this person, but Aang turned to her "She's just teasing. Toph likes to mess with people."

Toph burst out laughing "Yeah, I'm just messing with you, no biggie. Gotta have some fun before we get back home." she slumped back "The folks are expecting us for dinner."

Aang groaned "Tonight?"

"Yep. Poppy had the cooks make you a special dinner."

Aang rubbed his temple "Great."

"What's so bad about dinner?" Katara asked.

"Look, my folks aren't as fun as I am." Toph said leaning forward "They are the definition of Earth Kingdom Upper Class. They are the snootiest of the snooty ."

"Yeah," Aang agreed "And that also means that we have to 'dress' for dinner."

"Yep, so you'll have about an hour to get yourselves together."

.~.

Katara was amazed as the pulled through the gates of the Beifong Estates. Mr. How dropped Toph off at the gigantic main house then drove them to the guest houses a bit farther back on the property.

These will be your quarters while you are visiting. Mr. How said formally as he sat Katara's bags down inside the little house. Sir and Madam hope this will be suitable. Katara looked around in awe. This guest house was bigger, and nicer than her brother's apartment.

"This is just lovely. Thank you." she said to the man.

"Very good Miss Gulkana. I will return in an hour to collect you for dinner."

The man turned and left and Aang slipped into the door, laughing at Katara's fascination with the house "Yeah, they really know how to do it up."

"Tell me about it. Where are you staying?"

He threw his thumb over his shoulder "Right across the way. You can't tell form the outside, but we've been living there for years. The Beifong told us to stay while Toph trained me, and when we were done they told us that we might as well stay."

Katara looked across at the identical little house and smiled, then she looked at Aang and realized he looked a bit down "What's wrong?"

"I haven't been home in a while. Not since Gyatso died."

She took his hand "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Yeah." he said quietly, closing his hand around hers "That would be nice."

They walked across to the other little house and went inside. Aang looked around "They had the placed cleaned up." he looked at Katara and could tell she was wondering what he was talking about. He scratched the back of his head "I kinda went into the avatar state when I realized Gyatso had died. It took half the guards to pull me out of here…I stayed at the main house until I left."

She squeezed his hand tighter.

They walked around. Aang saw that everything that hadn't been broken beyond repair had been put back in place. The Beifong had replaced the television, which, as he vaguely remembered, he had blown through a window. They'd even replaced Gyatso's room door. Aang paused and looked at it for a moment and decided that he would leave it closed.

Once he went into his room and put his things down, he turned to Katara "It'll be time for dinner before we know it. We'd better get ready."

"Yeah. This is going to be interesting." she said with a cautious smile.

He pulled her closer "It's going to be okay. Just be yourself, They'll love you."


End file.
